Submitted by: Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension District Director

4-H members from the Southwind Extension District excelled at the annual Kansas 4-H Livestock Sweepstakes event August 1-20 in Kansas State University’s Weber Hall.

Participants from the Southwind Extension District were John Emmerson, Danielle Nading, Ryann Allison, Jillian Keller, Clay Brillhart, Haydon Schaaf, Brody Nemecek, Kolby Seested and Gavin Fry representing 4-H Clubs from Allen and Bourbon Counties.

4-H members gained new knowledge and worked on livestock skills in order to be competitive in the Sweepstakes event which consisted of four contests. Southwind Extension District completed the weekend by being named the 2017 Reserve Champion Kansas State 4-H Sweepstakes Team. Top ten individual Sweepstakes winners for Southwind were John Emmerson, 7^th; Haydon Schaaf, 5^th; and Gavin Fry 4^th.

The Livestock Quiz Bowl started with a qualifying exam. The eight teams with the highest average scores advanced to the quiz bowl competition. Southwind #1 (Seested, Fry, Schaaf, Nemecek) was seeded first after the test and was later named the Champion Quiz Bowl team after the head-to-head matches. Southwind #2 (Nading, Keller, Brillhart, Allison) also scored well on the quiz and advanced to the competition, but lost to the Sunflower District in the first round.

The Livestock Judging contest consisted of nine judging classes and four sets of reasons. Southwind #1 (Emmerson, Nading, Fry, Seested) was 4^th in Sheep/Goats; 2^nd in Swine; 5^th in Cattle and 2^nd in Reasons and named Reserve High Team Overall. Southwind #2 (Brillhart, Schaaf, Keller, Nemecek) was 1^st in Sheep/Goats; 4^th in Swine; 3^rd in Reasons and named 3^rd Team Overall. Individually, Clay Brillhart was 5^th in Sheep/Goats; Gavin Fry was 8^th in Reasons; Jillian Keller was 4^th in Sheep/Goats; Brody Nemecek was 1^st in Sheep/Goats, 3^rd in Reasons, and 8^th Overall; Danielle Nading was 10^th in Swine and 18^th Individual Overall; and John Emmerson was 2^nd in Sheep/Goats, 1^st in Swine, 3^rd in Cattle, 4^th in Reasons, and High Individual Overall. As the Reserve State Champion Livestock Judging Team, Southwind District will represent Kansas 4-H at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo. next January.

The Meats Judging contest was based on identification of 30 retail cuts, six placings classes and three sets of reasons. Haydon Schaaf was named 2^nd in Retail ID and 5^th Individual Overall; Gavin Fry was 7^th Individual. Southwind #1 (Schaaf, Fry, Seested, Nemecek) was 2^nd in Reasons, 2^nd in Retail ID and 3^rd Team Overall.

In the Livestock Skillathon, 4-H members rotated individually through stations that addressed six areas of animal science. Those included feedstuffs, breed identification, equipment identification, meat identification and a written test. There was also a team component where members worked together on judging a class of keep/cull meat goat does, reading a medicine label, and determining body condition scoring of breeding gilts. Individually John Emmerson was 9^th Overall and Gavin Fry was 6^th Overall. As a team, Southwind #2 (Emmerson, Fry, Seested, Nemecek) was 4^th in Exam, 3^rd in Practicum and 2^nd Overall. Southwind #2 (Nading, Schaaf, Keller, Brillhart) was 4^th Team Overall.

Having fun while learning was part of the weekend! In addition to the Call Hall ice cream social, team members caught up with old friends and made new ones.

Photo caption:  Nine 4-H members had the opportunity to represent the Southwind Extension District at the annual Kansas 4-H Livestock Sweepstakes at Kansas State University. Their skills and knowledge were challenged by participating in Livestock & Meats Judging, Livestock Quiz Bowl and Livestock Skillathon contests. Those attending were (from left to right): Carla Nemecek, Southwind District Director & Coach; Haydon Schaaf, Gavin Fry, Ryann Allison, Clay Brillhart, Brody Nemecek, Jillian Keller, Danielle Nading and John Emmerson.